Opposites Attract: Amy and Jake
by Madrigal-in-training
Summary: Short, usually one-shots (although some are part of a larger plot) that are dedicated to the pairing of AmyxJake. These are short, fluffy, and generally sweet moments. It starts at the end of the Timbuktu adventure and carries on from there. Jamy
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

When Amy Cahill first met Jake Rosenbloom, she thought that he was remarkably good-looking. With his reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, and classical good looks, Jake was one of the most handsome boys she had ever met.

A minute later, she had changed her mind when she decided that he was a jerk.

When Jake Rosenbloom had first met Amy Cahill, he thought that she was rather pretty. With her wavy reddish-brown hair, jade green eyes, and oval face, Amy was one of the prettiest girls he had ever met.

A minute later, he had changed his mind when he decided that she was insane.

"Listen," Amy said, curling her hands together to keep herself from fidgeting, "I don't like you and you don't like me... but if we're going to keep your brother safe, then we need to work together."

They were in a hotel room in Paris, after their recently harrowing adventure in Timbuktu. The hostages were still under the control of Vesper One, but they had a little more time to prepare before they would be sent to Yale for their next retrieval mission. Atticus and Dan were both dead to the world- deep in a coma of cheese curls, sugar, and soda.

Jake looked up from where he was typing something on his laptop. "Yeah?"

Amy paused to study him, "I know you're proficient in martial arts, but I was wondering if you'd like a crash course on another Cahill favorite?"

"That depends," Jake considered, "What do you want to teach me?"

"Poisons," Amy said simply, "How to create, use, and get rid of one."

Jake's eyes widened. "I didn't take you for a poison type of girl." His tone was somewhere between incredulous and impressed.

Amy shrugged uncomfortably. "Ian taught me."

This time Jake's tone was undoubtedly caustic. "Ian taught you. Naturally."

Amy felt a dull flush rise up against her cheeks and had to fight it to keep her face emotionless. She had no idea why, but she didn't like mentioning Ian to Jake.

"Do you want to learn or not?" this time her voice came out a little sharply.

Jake's eyebrow rose a fraction of a centimeter. "What if I said no?"

Amy bristled, "This isn't much of an option. You're in danger and you'll need as many skills as you can get to fight the Vespers."

Jake regarded her warily. "Is that all you ever think about? Fighting the Vespers?"

"I'm in charge of the Madrigal branch," Amy admitted, indirectly answering his question, "I have to do whatever I can to protect all the hostages. If I don't..." She didn't need to finish the question, but Jake finished it mentally anyway.

If I don't then they'll all die.

"I'll let you teach me," Jake said simply, standing up and inadvertently showing her the difference in height between them, "If and only if you let me take you somewhere else afterward."

"Relax?" Amy's brow furrowed, "Like a date?" Her face looked guilty, "I have a boyfriend..."

"Not a date," Jake said quickly, his voice getting colder at the word 'boyfriend'. He smirked slightly and pushed away his annoyance, "I wouldn't want to mess up your little paradise with Ethan after all. This is between friends."

"Oh," Amy said dumbly, before her eyes narrowed, "His name is Evan, not Ethan."

"Isn't that just what I said?" Jake said innocently, sending her a charming smile. "Now tell me, what great poisons shall I be learning?"

Amy decided to ignore her irritation and brought out a small bag. She opened it and Jake could see over two dozen vials filled with various liquid colors, most of them a clear pastel. There were small labels plastered on the vials, which Jake vaguely recognized as a more complicated shorthand for his chemistry solutions.

"Hey I recognize this-" Jake started, reaching out a hand to grab the first vial.

"We'll start with this one-" Amy began, reaching out to grab the first vial.

There hands brushed each other as they both touched the clear glass, and both Amy and Jake stilled. Amy looked up to find Jake staring at her, her face instantly becoming several degrees warmer. Two of her fingers had crisscrossed against three of Jake's- the slender differences in size making it easy to identify their respective owners. Neither of them moved for a moment.

"R-right, so t-this is a c-common household d-drug," Amy stuttered, pulling her hand back quickly. Jake still looked mystified as his hand stayed in place, hovering in the air.

The awkwardness of the moment quickly disappeared, and the two went deeply into their discussion of the most common and useful applications of the poisons. Although there was no physical representation of what had just occurred, Amy still felt oddly pleased as she dictated to Jake on how to properly force a debilitating if not killing amount of arsenic down a man's throat.

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_**This is the first one shot of what hopefully will become a fluffy and sweet mini-story. I've come to realize that although Jake is quickly becoming a very popular character in the 39 Clues series, there aren't many fanfics dedicated to either him or the Jake and Amy pairing. In an attempt to do my part to correct this unjust travesty, I have created this and will continue it to the best of my ability. I hope you all enjoy.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues, Jake, Amy, or any of the other characters that are owned by Scholastic. (Which funny enough, is now considered to be a proper noun in Microsoft Word) **_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Amy did not, strictly speaking, get to go out on many dates. She blamed it on her having to be on the run from crazy, murderous relatives and then having to take up the position as Head of her family branch despite being a teenager.

It was an unfortunate side effect of being a Cahill.

Jake did not, strictly speaking, get to go out on many dates. He blamed it on him having a famous father, a needy if endearing genius brother, and a ridiculous amount of expectations piled upon him from a young age.

It was an unfortunate side effect of being a Rosenbloom.

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When Dan finally forced his eyes open a few hours after lunch- more from a desperate need to fill his stomach rather than any emergence of newfound sensibility- he found a small note with Jake's signature scrawl taped to his forehead. Rolling over, he plucked it from his skull and read it upside down. It took a few minutes for his groggy head to unscramble the words, but once it did, he yelped and nearly fell off the bed.

_**Dan and Atticus**__****_

_**Taking Amy out to lunch. Be careful. Order food service and don't go outside. Video games are in the cabinet.**__****_

_**~Jake**__**  
**_  
"Hah!" Atticus shouted, woken up by Dan. His hair waved around as he peered drowsily around the room, "What's going on? Have Vespers got in?"

"No! It's more terrible than that," Dan wailed, waving the note around, "I'm sorry my friend. It seems that my sister has turned Jake to the Dark Side."

Alarmed, Atticus grabbed the note and read it himself, "...I don't get it."

Dan rolled his eyes. "He's taking her out to lunch," Dan said significantly, jabbing a finger at the paper as though it were the most offensive thing in the world, "That's like... a date!"

"It's just lunch Dan," Atticus said, bemused, "Besides you act like a date would be a bad thing."

"It is a bad thing!" Dan waved his hands in the air for punctuation, "What do you think would happen if they started dating." Atticus considered that.

"Ian and Evan would have to stay away from your sister," he said matter-of-factly, "Our siblings would be so busy with each other that they wouldn't keep track of what trouble we were getting up to. Amy would stop forcing you to do your homework before five in the morning."

"Oh, I hadn't considered that," Dan admitted, "Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all."

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"Where would you like to eat?" Amy said, self-consciously, painfully aware of her old shirt and faded jeans as they stood outside of the hotel. Jake smiled at her, completely unaware of the looks he kept receiving from nearby girls.

"Anywhere would be fine," he answered cheerfully, "Actually... why don't we pull a Dan and Atticus right now?"

"A Dan and Atticus?" Amy understandably looked confused, "You mean plan a tirade against vegetables before someone forces it down our throats?"

"Not that Dan and Atticus," Jake answered, grabbing her hand and beginning to walk. He appeared to be unaware of the new shade of red Amy's face was sporting, "There's this great place nearby that my Dad once took me to. It serves the best ice cream sundaes."

"Oh, you mean _that _Dan and Atticus," Amy shook her head but smiled nonetheless, "We're going to regret that in a few hours."

"Maybe," Jake said noncommittally, "But until then... how about a little bet?"

"A bet?" Amy mused, "It seems we always have one variety of a bet or another when either of us is around. Okay then, what bet do you want to have?"

"I bet," Jake paused grandly, "That I can finish one super-deluxe hot chocolate banana sundae- with all the works- before you can."

"That's your challenge?" Amy's voice had become more competitive, "Alright then, but I feel that I should warn you... I'm friends with Hamilton Holt."

"You think that's going to scare me," Jake taunted, "I grew up in prep school. You're going to have to trash talk better than that to scare me."

Amy laughed, "Prep school kid? Why am I not surprised?"

"Probably for the same reason I'm not shocked that you're a walking encyclopedia," Jake retorted and paused, "Although you're really pretty. Like, really pretty. Smart, but mostly pretty."

This time Amy's blush was even more evident.

"You said that to me before, remember?" Amy grinned up at him, "I hope you don't think I fall for lines that easily."

"Is that a challenge?" Jake asked, before he seemed to catch himself and looked away. Amy too, turned her face to the ground, a sliver of guilt flowing through her as she remembered Evan.

"We should probably get back to the hotel," Amy said hurriedly, suddenly turned and shifting her hand out of Jake's grasp. "The boys will get worried. This was a bad idea."

Jake instinctively knew that she wasn't talking about them going outside of the hotel.

"No. Stay," he grabbed her hand again and pulled her with him until they were standing at a more secluded part of the street, "You promised me this."

"The Vespers-" Amy started.

"-Don't have anything to do with this," Jake finished angrily before his face softened.

"You promised," he pleaded, "Let's at least have the sundaes. It's a bet remember? Come on, loser has to answer ten of the winners questions truthfully."

Amy paused, unwilling to leave or to stay.

"_I can use this to find out if he's a Vesper spy or not_," Amy told herself half-heartedly. She knew that that wasn't true. They had stopped suspecting that Jake was a Vesper and what was she going to do? Ask outright if he was conspiring against her family?

"Okay," Amy agreed, her heart fluttering as Jake gave her a genuine, blinding grin. She smiled back and Jake's own grin just became wider.

Inside their heads, they were both thinking the same thing.

_I am so screwed.__  
_  
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_**Wow, I honestly did not think that I would be able to update this quickly. After seeing all of the amazing responses though, I couldn't help but type this up and post it ASAP. It was really humbling to see how people developed a liking for this story so quickly. I hope this can live up to all of your expectations.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues or any of its characters. This is purely for my enjoyment and will not result in any profit. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Amy was not an object of envy very often.

This did not reflect in any way on her potential to inspire the feeling of jealousy. Indeed, Amy was a smart, pretty, and capable girl who had inherited a great fortune. At the same though, she was too shy to overtly display her knowledge, too indifferent to showcase her beauty, and too sweet to break the bones of her bullies. Other than her association with Evan and frequent absences from school, Amy was a relatively nonexistent student. None of the kids in school, besides Evan anyway, even knew that she was rich.

Jake was not an object of envy very often.

This was not an indicator of inherent modesty. He was just really antisocial.

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The infamous Cahill survival instinct- honed from years of killer family reunions (literally)- alerted Amy to the fact that immense dislike was directed at her. This came in the form of the hairs on the back of her neck standing out, in the form of the hawk eyes of the girl who took their orders, and in the form of the rustling whispers that she could instinctively identify as directed toward her. A few covert glances later and Amy was fairly sure that none of the people in the cafe were Vesper agents. Their glances were too obvious, their emotions too palpable, and their movements too direct.

So why were half a dozen teenage girls glaring at her?

"So?" Jake grinned awkwardly at her from across the table.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "So?" she echoed.

Jake looked irritated. "How do you do that?" he complained, "Atticus does the eyebrow trick all the time too! It drives me crazy!"

They both laughed at that and suddenly this wasn't so awkward anymore.

"It's all in the shifting of the face," Amy assured him, snickering lightly. "So... you told me before that you went to prep school. What's that like?"

Jake made a face. "It's okay I guess. I mean most of the kids came from really privileged families so there was definitely some snobbery there, and it was an old school prep academy, so a lot of annoying traditions, but besides that, I liked it. There were a lot of interesting people and the academics were great. What type of school did you go to?"

"I go to a public school," Amy answered, "When Dan and I finished gathering all of the clues and inherited the Cahill fortune, McIntyre- Grace's lawyer- wanted us to switch to a private school or possibly just attend home school, but Dan refused because he thought it meant hanging out with rich people."

"He was aware that...?" Jake asked. Amy grinned.

"Dan has a very selective memory," she explained, "He always used to make fun of our rich cousins whenever we had a reunion. Now that he's rich, he's kind of trying to hold on to the last bits of normalcy being middle-class provided."

Jake nodded. "What about your great-aunt? What was her name? Bellatrix?"

"Beatrice, although she was definitely evil enough to be a Death Eater," Amy replied, "She was pretty irritated about us inheriting the money and even came to the mansion to demand her share. I think Dan got a little too much satisfaction out of slamming the door in her face."

"I think I would have been pretty satisfied to do that to someone I hated too," Jake admitted.

"Enough about my family though. Let's talk about yours," Amy changed the conversation, "You and Atticus are pretty close obviously. How about your Dad?"

"Dad's a bit of a workaholic," Jake answered, "But we also have a close relationship. After losing both my mom and Astrid, he just doesn't want to become distant from his family, you know? I think that's partially why Atticus and I are so close too. When Dad's working, the only ones we really have are each other."

Amy frowned. "I know what you mean," she said softly, "After my parents died, Dan and I were extremely close. I was really overprotective about him."

Jake chose his next words carefully. "He's also very protective towards you. I know Dan's worried about how much stress you've had lately... and, well, you are the youngest Branch Head in the entire history of the Cahill family. That can't be easy at any time, and especially now, with having to deal with the Vespers."

Amy's face hardened. "I'd rather not talk about that."

"Okay," Jake said, hastily, immediately feeling guilt over pushing her into this when they were having such a nice talk. He thought about another subject. "Hey, when we were in Germany, I saw you reading one of the museum pamphlets. Do you speak German?"

Amy nods, "I speak a little German, and a smattering of a bunch of Romance languages, although the ones I know best are French and Italian. I've been picking up a little Russian on the side so I can decode some old Lucian documents. How about you?"

"I can speak Hindi and Japanese," Jake answered, "I learned both of those in school. Those are the only linguistic languages I know, besides English, but I know the programming languages C+ and Java. I used them to create a software program to run my track team averages for me."

"You can program?" Amy looked impressed, "And you're on the track team too? Wow, although I guess that explains why you were so good at running in Berlin."

Jake accepts her teasing good-naturedly. "Yes, and while I was putting my track team practice to work, you were going all scary martial-artist on them, huh?"

Amy laughed, "Well somebody had to protect you."

"Oh?" Jake looked at her oddly, with a glint in his eyes. His voice softened, "Then I hope you'll always be there to keep me safe."

Amy fell silent, paradoxically thrilled and terrified of the implications within that statement. That Jake looked so solemn when he stared back at her, that his normally wary eyes were so trusting, that his voice held no trace of teasing whatsoever... it almost scared her.

Luckily, Amy was saved the trouble of having to reply by the return of their surly waitress. Two ridiculously large sundaes were placed in front of them: a chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and (in Amy's case) buttercream confectionery chock full of chopped almonds, sprinkles, banana chunks, and a teeth-edged smattering of chocolate sauce. It was topped with a foam tipped cherry. Dan and Atticus would have approved.

"I feel almost guilty eating this without the boys," Amy informed him, as she eyed the treat.

"I don't," Jake's voice was cheerful again. Amy found herself missing the oddly serious tone. "And don't think you're going to get out of this that easily Cahill. I'm so going to beat you."

"In your dreams Rosenbloom." Amy replied.


End file.
